Great Lakes Engineering Works

National Labor Relations Board - Board Decisions

Oct 15, 1937

3 N.L.R.B. 825 (N.L.R.B. 1937)

In the Matter of GREAT LAKES ENGINEERING, WORKS and DETROIT
METAL TRADES COUNCIL
Case No. R-231.Decided October 15,' 1937
Shipbuilding Industry-Investigation of Representatives : controversy con-
cerning representation , of employees : rival organizations ; refusal by employer
to recognize either of rival organizations as exclusive representative of unit
desired by each ; controversy between rival '' organizations as to appropriate
unit-Units Appropriate for Collective • Bargaining : crafts-machinists ;
plumbers , pipe-fitters , and steam -fitters ; electricians-established labor organi-
zations in plant ; history of collective bargaining relations in plant ; organization
of business ; community of interest ; eligibility for membership in various craft
unions ; some crafts cannot be combined in a single unit to the exclusion of
others without a showing of some special bond between those combined ; unions
chosen as representatives of separate crafts may choose a common agent to
represent them-Representatives : proof of choice : membership in union-
Certification of Representatives : in two craft units upon proof of majority
representation-Election Ordered
Mr. George S. Bott and Mr. Harold V. Crane field for the Board.
Hill, Hamblen, Essery, and Lewis, by Mr. J' K. Worley; of De-
troit, Mich., for the Company.
Mr. William S. McDowell, of Detroit, Mich., for the Down River
Shipbuilders' Association.
Mr. Paul S. Kuelth,au, of counsel to the Board.
DECISION
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
AND
DIRECTION, OF ELECTION S
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
On June 19, 1937, the Detroit Metal Trades Council, chartered
by the Metal Trades Department of the American Federation of
Labor, filed a petition with the Regional Director for'' the ' Seventh
Region ( Detroit, Michigan) alleging that a question affecting com-
merce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of
Great Lakes Engineering Works,' River Rouge, Michigan, herein
called the Company , and requesting the National Labor Relations
2Incorrectly called the Great Lakes Engineering Corporation in the petition and
complaint.
825
826 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Board, herein called the Board, to conduct an investigation pursuant
to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449,
herein called the Act. On June 24, 1937, the Board, acting pursuant
to Section 9 (c) of the Act, and Article III, Section 3 of National
Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as
amended, authorized the Regional Director- to conduct an investi-
gation and provide for an appropriate hearing.
Pursuant to notices of hearing, copies of which were duly served
upon the Company, the Down River Shipbuilders' Association,
herein called the Association, a labor organization named in the
petition as claiming to represent the Company's employees, and the
Detroit Metal Trades Council, herein called the Council, a hearing
was held in Detroit, Michigan, on July 26 and 27, 1937, before
Alvin J. Rockwell, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the
Board. The Board, the Company, and the Association were repre-
sented by counsel. All participated in the hearing. Full oppor-
tunity to be heard, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and
to introduce evidence bearing on the issues was afforded all the
parties. Objections to the introduction of evidence were made dur-
ing the course of the hearing by counsel for the parties and for
the Board. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial
Examiner and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed. The
rulings are hereby affirmed.
Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following :
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. THE COMPANY AND ITS BUSINESS
Great Lakes Engineering Works is a corporation, organized in
1920 under the laws of Michigan, with its principal office and place
of business at River Rouge, Michigan. Its establishment at River
Rouge consists of an extensive shipbuilding plant and three drydock
slips, occupying 106 acres with 1,680 feet of frontage on the Detroit
River. The Company also maintains a shipbuilding plant and dry-
docks at Ashtabula, Ohio, and a machine shop in Detroit, Michigan.
It is engaged in building and repairing vessels, largely of the type
used in commerce on the Great Lakes. The River Rouge plant em-
ploys approximately 650 people.
The Company is the second largest shipbuilder and'repairer on the
Great Lakes. In 1936 its gross business amounted to $1,750,000.
At the time of the hearing the Company was building two freighters
for the Pittsburgh Steamship Company at its River Rouge Plant.
The gross carrying capacity of each of these freighters will be 12,000
gross tons; their contract price, $1,500,000 each. These ships are to
be used on the Great Lakes, plying between Conneaut, Ohio; Duluth,
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 827
Minnesota; and Chicago, Illinois. During 1936, 60 to 65 vessels were
drydocked at the River Rouge plant for repairs. These ships were
all actively engaged in Great Lakes trade. At the time of the hear-
ing the Company was engaged in repairing a vessel which had been
sold to a Chinese mining syndicate and was destined for service in
Chinese waters.
In building new vessels the Company uses steel, cement, wood, cop-
per, and brass. The steel comes from either Chicago or Pittsburgh 2
in the form of, angles, channel, and flat plates. None of this ma-
terial can be used in .the form in which it is received, but must be
prepared in the machine shop at River Rouge before it can be put
in place on a ship.
The lumber used comes either raw or finished. Copper is bought
fabricated, either as pipe, bar, or rod copper. No virgin copper is used
by the Company. The Company makes reciprocating steam engines
in its River Rouge plant, but any other type of engine is purchased
from some other concern and installed on the vessel by the Company.
Any electrical equipment needed is assembled by the Company from
parts purchased by it from the manufacturers.
H. THE ORGANIZATIONS INVOLVED
A. The Detroit Metal Trades Council
The Detroit Metal Trades Council is a labor organization made
up of unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor in the
metal trades in Detroit. It was chartered by the Metal Trades De-
partment of the American Federation of Labor on June 19, 1933.
The local unions which are members of the Detroit Metal Trades
Council and which have members in the Company's River Rouge
plant are:
(a) Local No. 636 of the United Association of Journeymen
Plumbers and Steamfitters of the United States and Canada, a labor
organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, which
admits to membership workmen in the pipe fitting industry in Detroit
and vicinity;
(b) Local No. 1292 of the International Association of Machinists,
a labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor,
which admits to membership machinists, machinist helpers, machinist
apprentices,- and machine riggers in Detroit and vicinity;
(c) Local No. B-58 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers, a labor organization affiliated with the American Federa-
tion of Labor, which admits to membership all inside electrical work-
ers, including helpers, apprentices, and electric crane operators, in
Detroit and vicinity.
2 The source of the other raw materials is not disclosed in the record.
828 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
At a joint meeting of the above local unions on July 8, 1937, the
Council was designated as the collective ' bargaining agent for all'
three. This is in accordance with- the constitution and by-laws of
the Metal Trades Department-of the American Federation of Labor,
by which the Council is governed.
B. The Down River Shipbuilders' Association ,
The Down River Shipbuilders ' Association,is a labor organization,
incorporated as a non-profit corporation under the laws of Michigan,
and admitting to membership all persons , employed by the Com-
pany at its River Rouge plant on an hourly or piecework basis,
except those employed in a supervisory capacity.
III. QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION
That a question, concerning representation of certain, crafts em-
ployed in the Company 's River Rouge ' plant has , arisen is clear.
The Council has advised the Company . that it represents a
majority of each of the three crafts involved here, and that it wishes
to bargain as the exclusive representative of those crafts.
The Association represented to the Company that 434 of the ap-
proximately 650 employees of the Company at its River Rouge
plant had , by membership in it, designated it as their bargaining
agent. On the basis of this statement , the Association sought
recognition as exclusive bargaining agent for all , production em-
ployees of the Company at its River Rouge , plant, exclusive of
supervisory, employees.
The Company refused to deal with either the Council or the
Association as the exclusive representative , of the unit desired, by
each , but did negotiate and come to agreements with each for its
members, , pending determination of the proper unit , by the Board.
Because of the conflicting , claims of the Association and the
Council , we find that a question concerning the representation of the
machinists , pipefitters , plumbers, steamfitters ,, electricians , electric
crane operators , and their helpers and apprentices employed in the
River Rouge plant of the Company has arisen.
IV. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT
The Association contends that all, production employees at the
Company's River Rouge plant ,. exclusive of supervisory employees,
constitute . a, unit appropriate for -the purposes of collective bargain-
ing. This contention is supported by the fact that the cooperation
of all crafts is necessary in building a ship. It is not a question of
one craft finishing its work on a vessel and then another being called
in, but rather it is necessary for all to work at the same time.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 829
The Council, on the other hand, contends that the unit should
consist of the, machinists, machinists' helpers and apprentices,
machine riggers, plumbers, plumbers' helpers and apprentices, pipe-
fitters and' steamfitters, -their helpers and apprentices, electricians,
their helpers and apprentices,' and electric crane operators employed
by the Company at its River Rouge plant. This unit comprises
three crafts in which there have been organized separate craft
unions which have designated the Council as joint bargaining agent.
These unions made the, joint designation in order to secure greater
bargaining power in dealing with the Company on a semi-industrial
basis. The three' crafts, however, have no more in common with
each other than with five or six other crafts in the Company's plant.
The only bond between these three crafts which is not common to all
of the more highly skilled crafts in the Company's plant is the
membership of their unions in the Council. In the Company's River
Rouge plant there are 18 or 20 different crafts, of which at least
five or six are as highly, skilled as those organized in unions affiliated
with the Council and -have the same basic minimum wage. Other
crafts could be organized in craft unions eligible to membership in
the Council. Its membership is not confined to the craft unions
petitioning here.
The function of trade' councils, I such as the Council here, in col-
lective bargaining has always been to act as the representatives of
their member craft unions, and not as representatives of the indi-
vidual members of those craft unions., They have never sought
to take the place of the unions..
In the light of the above facts,, it is clear that the unit requested
by the Council is not the proper unit.
What history of collective bargaining there is in the Company's
plant points toward the craft unit. The welders are organized in. a
craft union and have a working agreement with the Company.s A
majority of the machinists and of the plumbers have indicated their
desire 'for the craft, unit by joining their respective craft unions, as
stated more fully below.
The individual crafts within the plant are well defined and sepa-
rated. Each does a large proportion of its work in a physically
separate department of the plant., The members of each craft have
common interests and problems and are eligible, for membership in
the same craft union. Each craft works under a single foreman
who has no other employees under him. The members of a craft are
not shifted from one department to another.
3 On May 17, 1937, the Company signed an agreement with Local No. 31 of the Weld-
ers International Association, unaffiliated , representing the welders, burners , apprentices,
and helpers at the River Rouge plant.
830 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
We consider the above fact more persuasive than the argument of
the Association for an industrial unit, and we, therefore find that
the craft unit is appropriate here.
The machine riggers work in the same department as the machin-
ists. They have common foremen and are eligible for membership
in the same craft union. They should be included in the unit with
the machinists.
The electric crane operators are electricians and work in the same
department as the other electricians under the same foremen. They
should be included in the same unit as the electricians.
No question concerning the representation of the employees out-
side of these three crafts in the Company's plant has been raised
here. We do not now decide whether or not the remainder of the
employees constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collec-
tive bargaining.
In order to insure to the employees the full benefit of their right
to self-organization and to collective bargaining, and otherwise to
effectuate the policies of the Act, we find that the machinists, in-
cluding machine riggers, helpers, and apprentices constitute an
appropriate unit for the purposes of collective bargaining, that the
plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, their helpers and appren-
tices, constitute an appropriate unit for the purposes of collective
bargaining, and that the electricians, including electric crane opera-
tors, helpers, and apprentices, constitute an appropriate unit for the
purposes of collective bargaining.
Our finding in this respect is not, to prevent these units . from
designating the same agent to bargain for all of them, nor is it to
prevent the possibility of later expansion of the unit if a majority
in that unit should wish to join with other employees in an indus-
trial or semi-industrial unit.
V. THE EXCLUSIVE BARGAINING AGENCY
The July 17, 1937, pay roll of the Company showed 44 machinists,
including machine riggers, helpers, and apprentices, employed by
the Company, of whom 34 were identified at the hearing as members
in good standing of Local No. 1292 of the International Association
of Machinists by William H. Berridge, an officer of that local testify-
ing with its records before him. By their membership, those men
designated Local No. 1292 as their representative for the purposes of,
collective bargaining, and we will so certify.
A majority of the plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, including
helpers and apprentices, have also indicated their preference. Of
the 20 persons employed in their department at the River Rouge
plant of the Company, exclusive of foremen and assistant foremen,
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 831
as shown by the July 17, 1937, pay roll, 15 were identified at the hear-
ing as members in good standing of Local No. 636 of the United
Association of Journeymen Plumbers and Steamfitters of the United
States and Canada by Robert Mullen, secretary and treasurer of
Local No. 636, testifying with its records before him. By their
membership, those men designated Local No. 636 as their representa-
tive for the purposes of collective bargaining and we will so certify.
The choice of the electricians, including electric crane operators,
helpers, and apprentices, is not apparent from the record. It was
agreed by the parties at the hearing that Local No. B-58 of the In-
ternational Brotherhood of Electrical Workers had 28 members
among the 68 in the unit on the July 17, 1937, pay roll of the Com-
pany, that the Association had 40 members, and that nine persons
were members of both organizations. An election will, therefore, be
necessary.
If the Association wins the election, we will certify it as the repre-
sentative of all of the employees in the unit, but this certification
is not to preclude the expansion of this unit to include other crafts
in which the Association may have majority membership, since it is
set up as an industrial union.
The certifications to be made herein will not prevent the Council
from being designated by the individual craft unions as their joint
representative to deal with the Company for the purposes of collec-
tive bargaining.
VI. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION OF REPRESENTATION ON COMMERCE
The only drydocks for the repair of ships in the immediate vicinity
of Detroit are those maintained by the Company at its River Rouge
plant.
The Company's operations are performed upon the instrumental-
ities of interstate and foreign commerce. The question concerning
representation which has arisen, occurring in connection with the
operations of the Company described in Section I above, has a close,
intimate, and substantial relation to trade, traffic, commerce, and
transportation among the several states and with foreign countries,
and tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing com-
merce and the free flow of commerce.
VII. CONDUCT OF ELECTION
On July 17, 1937, there were 70 electricians on the Company's
pay roll. This figure included two leaders or assisuant foremen. It
has been the policy of the Board 4 not to include such employees in
4 Matter of Lane Cotton Mills Co., Case No. R-222, decided August 24, 1937 (supra,
p 369) ; Matter of United Press Assoctiattons , Case No. R-206, decided August 20, 1937,
(supra, p. 344).
832 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
the same unit with subordinate employees because their positions are
supervisory. They will therefore not be permitted to vote in the
election.
Immediately after July 17, 1937, 36 electricians were temporarily
laid off because there was no work for them. The testimony of the
Company's Director of Personnel was that these men would be rein-
stated as soon as more work became available., Their temporary lay-
off is not to be regarded as terminating their.employee status. There-
fore we find that all electricians, including electric crane operators,
helpers, and apprentices, but excluding foremen and assistant fore-
men, on the July 17, 1937, pay roll of the Company should be per-
mitted to vote in the election.
The evidence also showed that one electrician was injured prior
to July 17 and therefore was not on that pay roll. He was drawing
compensation - and will be reemployed by the Company upon his
recovery. He should be permitted to register his preference in re-
gard to the collective bargaining agent by casting his ballot in the
election.
The ballot used in this election should be drawn so as to allow an
employee who does not wish to be represented by either of the con-
tending organizations to so vote.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Upon the basis of the above findings of fact, the Board makes the
following conclusions of law :
1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the repre-
sentation of employees of Great Lake Engineering Works in its River
Rouge, Michigan, plant, within the meaning of Section 9 (c), and
Section 2, subdivisions (6) and (7) of the Act.
2. The machinists, including machine riggers, helpers, and ap-
prentices, but excluding foremen and assistant foremen, employed
by the Company at its River Rouge, Michigan, plant, constitute a
unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining, within
the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
3. The plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, including helpers
and apprentices, but excluding foremen and assistant foremen, em-
ployed by the Company at its River Rouge, Michigan, plant, con-
stitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining
within the meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
4. The electricians, including electric crane operators, helpers, and
apprentices, but excluding foremen and assistant foremen, employed
by the Company at its River Rouge, Michigan, plant, constitute a
unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining within the
meaning of Section 9 (b) of the Act.
DECISIONS AND ORDERS 833
5. Local No. 1292 of the International Association of Machinists,
having been selected for the purposes of collective bargaining by a
majority of the machinists, including machine riggers, helpers, and
apprentices, but excluding foremen and assistant foremen, is, by
virtue of Section 9 (a) of the Act, the exclusive representative of all
such employees for the purposes of collective bargaining with respect
to rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of
employment.
6. Local No. 636 of the United Association of Journeymen Plumbers
and Steamfitters of the United States and Canada, having been se-
lected for the purposes of collective bargaining by a majority of the
plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, including helpers and ap-
prentices, but excluding foremen and assistant foremen, is, by virtue
of Section 9 (a) of the Act, the exclusive representative of all such
employees for the purposes of collective bargaining with respect to
rates of pay, wages, hours of employment, and other conditions of
employment.
CERTIFICATION OF REPRESENTATIVES
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
tions Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8 of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1,
as amended,
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Local No. 1292 of the International Asso-
ciation of Machinists has been designated and selected by a majority
of the machinists, including machine riggers, apprentices, and helpers,
but excluding foremen and assistant foremen, employed by Great
Lakes Engineering Works at its River Rouge, Michigan, plant, as
the exclusive representative of all such employees for the purposes of
collective bargaining in respect to wages, rates of pay, hours of work,
and other conditions of employment;
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that Local No. 636 of the United Association
of Journeymen Plumbers and Steamfitters of the United States and
Canada has been designated and selected by a majority of the pipe-
fitters, plumbers, and steamfitters, including their apprentices and
helpers, but excluding foremen and assistant foremen, employed by
Great Lakes Engineering Works at its River Rouge, Michigan, plant,
as the exclusive representative of all such employees for the purposes
of collective bargaining in respect to wages, rates of pay, hours of
work, and other conditions of employment.
DIRECTION OF ELECTION
By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National
Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Rela-
834 NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
tions Act, 49 Stat. 449, and pursuant to Article III, Section 8 of
National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations-Series 1,
as amended, it is hereby
DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board
to ascertain representatives for collective bargaining with Great
Lakes Engineering Works, an election by secret ballot shall be con-
ducted within ten (10) days from the date of this Direction, under
the direction and supervision of the Regional Director for the
Seventh Region, ' acting in this matter as agent for the National
Labor Relations Board, and subject to Article III, Section 9 of said
Rules and Regulations-Series 1, as amended, among the electricians,
including electric crane operators and apprentices and helpers, but
excluding foremen and assistant foremen, employed by Great Lakes
Engineering Works in its River Rouge, Michigan, plant, at any time
during the period covered by its July 17, 1937, pay roll and including
one employee who was injured and drawing compensation at that
time, but excluding those who have since quit or been discharged for
cause, to determine whether they desire to be represented by Local
No. B-58 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor or by the Down
River Shipbuilders Association, for the purposes of collective bar-
gaining, or by neither.